Gerrard was able to complete his second 90 minutes in succession at the Etihad following his injury lay off.

Dalglish believes his captain is reaping the benefits of being eased back into the groove.

"He is going to get better every time he finishes a match," said the Scot. "We've tried to be sensible with the way we've progressed him. More importantly than us, he is certainly gaining the benefit from it as well.

"It's great to see him back. He's got a great influence on us."

Dalglish continued: "We put the other old warhorse on at the end, Carra. There is a good bit of knowledge between those two on how to win a game and we needed it tonight."